Since the start of the process of liberalizing the market for providers of communication services, individual communication subscribers have had the opportunity to select the respective network operator freely. The customer accesses the various communication networks by dialing processes, by dialing code numbers that are applicable to the respective communication network. Owing to the large number of available providers and different charges at different times of day it is, however, virtually impossible for the individual customers to obtain an overview of the entire range of offers on the market and to select from this the best offer for his requirements at the respective time. On the basis of this unclear situation, providers have become established on the market who carry out the analysis of the market situation for the communication subscribers and, after payment of a fee, provide the subscriber with a device which automatically converts a number dialed by the subscriber into another number which corresponds to criteria which the subscriber has made available to the service provider in a requirement profile. Since the offers by network operators with regard to customer requirements are changing all the time, the service provider has to update the data in the terminal of the customer on a regular basis. This ensures that the communication subscriber is always provided with a communication link, corresponding to his communication requirements, via different communication networks by always entering the same number. One provider of such number transformation devices who has become established on the market is the company Telejet. The technical details of the method and device which are offered by this company, and which is also called a Least Cost Routing Box owing to the cost criterion for setting up a call (which criterion is frequently selected by the customer) are described on the Internet at the address xe2x80x9chttp://www.ico.de/tjtm.htmxe2x80x9d.
The disadvantages of the method described there are that the customer either has to initiate the updating data transfer by the transformation device on his own, or that this process is carried out via a time control process, which results in relatively long updating intervals. A further problem is that the telephone line of the customer is busy for the time it takes to transmit the data to the transformation device, and this incurs costs for the customer since the initialization of the transfer process starts from the transformation device.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a system and a method for the remote updating of a telephone number transformation definition which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices and methods of this general type, in which the telephone number transformation definition of a communication subscriber can be updated.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an improved method for the remote updating of a telephone number transformation definition in a transformation device by an updating point, the transformation device transforming at least one telephone number being dialed by a communication subscriber to a new telephone number defined by the telephone number transformation definition, the improvement which includes:
connecting the transformation device to the updating point; and
updating the telephone number transformation definition to a current definition.
The described method advantageously does not incur any costs for the customer, since the updating process is initialized by the updating point. Furthermore, the disadvantage of the line being busy is eliminated, since the updating can be carried out on the basis of statistical analysis by the updating point at a time at which, statistically, very little communication takes place on the line.
In a development of the described method, the definition is advantageously changed on a time-controlled basis, in which case the updating time can be agreed to from time to time between the two communication partners, that is to say the updating point and the transformation device. This ensures that the customer is inconvenienced as little as possible by the updating process.
In a further development of the described method, the activity of terminals which are connected to the transformation device is advantageously suppressed by the connecting line which leads to the transformation device being switched to mute mode shortly before the previously notified updating time, so that the customer is not inconvenienced by ringing or other device activities during the updating process.
In one development of the described method, the dialing behavior of the communication subscriber is statistically analyzed, in a particularly advantageous manner, by the updating point or the transformation unit, in order to be informed about the traffic occurring on the customer line. The updating of the definition is furthermore preferably carried out as a function of the change to a criterion that the customer has passed to the updating point in the form of a requirement profile. This is advantageously directly at a time at which a different situation arises with respect to a criterion relating to the network operator.
A system which is particularly advantageous has a communication terminal that contains means for variable definition of at least two telephone numbers and that is connected to an updating point which can update these telephone numbers remotely, with the definition of the telephone number transformation being initiated by the updating point. This results in a minimal configuration being provided, which achieves the object of the invention.with a low level of technical complexity.
In a development of the system, different communication networks or communication service providers can be accessed in a particularly advantageous manner by the different telephone numbers, and the change to the telephone number definition is carried out as a function of the change to a variable parameter of these networks or providers. This ensures that the communication subscriber is always provided with the most up-to-date data for the telephone number transformation.
In a development of the described system, the updating is carried out in a particularly advantageous manner only as a function of a criterion specified by the customer, so that the traffic which arises on the subscriber line as a result of the updating process can be minimized.
In a development of the described system, means for time control are particularly advantageously provided since, in this way, the updating point and the transformation device can be synchronized to one another for the data interchange.
In a development of the described method, means are advantageously provided to suppress the activities of customer terminals which are connected to a transformation device, in order that the customer is not inconvenienced by these activities during the updating process.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a system and a method for the remote updating of a telephone number transformation definition, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.